U.S. Pat. No. 5,677,029 teaches a flexible penetration resistant composite having at least one fibrous layer comprised of a network of fibers, and at least one continuous polymeric layer comprised of a thermoplastic resin and/or a thermosetting resin. In this composite, the continuous polymeric layer coextensive with a surface of one of the fibrous layers.
Other publications teaching various combinations of fiber network and matrix include U.S. Patent Application Nos. 2002/0037391 and 2002/0034624 which disclose a composite having a fibrous web with a plurality of matrix islands contained therein. The matrix islands connect at least two filaments to hold the plurality of filaments in a unitary structure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,545 discloses a fiber/polymer composite with non-uniformly distributed polymer matrix. U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,768 discloses a plurality of composite layers which each composite layer is made up of at least two or monolayers of unidirectionally oriented fibers in a matrix. U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,776 teaches a composite made from one or more layers where at least one of layer is a network of filaments in a matrix material.
Despite the progress that has been made in making fabrics with improved ballistic performance, there is a need in the art for fabrics with improved performance, especially in the area of backface deformation.